Campaign Story

Hello All! My family is hoping to grow. We are three and my precious 4 year old is the smartest, silliest extrovert around. He loves Dinosaurs and cars, and making friends. He will make an excellent big brother (and told me he wants a little sister). I told him we cannot promise anything, but we are working on it. And if he does turn out to have a little brother ” that’s ok too”.

My Husband and I met doing stand-up comedy in Chicago In 2009. I had just moved to Chicago from the east coast and was not ready to settle down. So we spent a short time together and we went our separate ways. We continued to try to find our way in the world. He was in a band and told he me that when he would sing sounds about longing, he would think about me. While I was out chasing dreams I would think fondly on him , about the one “I let get away”.

Seven years later, after a break up, his sister posted a picture on his Facebook page. I though to myself ” wow he looks great” and I reached out to him. We have been attached at the hip ever since.

I had my son at 37 years old. Within thirteen months I was pregnant again. I ran out and got a bigger car, upgraded my job, and sold our condo in the city for a cute little house in the suburbs. After all, we were going to be a family of four and we needed to have our ducks aligned. But I lost the baby at 9 weeks. The upgrade in job didn’t work out and the house needed a lot of work. We never got pregnant again.

Four years later, I’m almost 43. We still have the family car and the house (of course) still needs work. But we’ve managed to make this a home for our son. But, someone is still missing.

We have done two rounds of IVF, and although you begin the process hopeful, our journeys were cut short both times with unsuccessful results.

With much Scrutiny, we’ve decided that its best to go the Egg Donor route. And although I’ve been able to save money and refinance the house with cash out, the cost of this process may leave us near financial hardship.

If you’ve ever been on this journey you know that you’re tasked with asking the “what if” question often. “What if” I do one more round of IVF. “What if” we hadn’t broken up that first time around. “What if” I just worked harder at getting my body in shape for this 10 years ago? The question I’m asking myself today is “What if” there was some way we could do this without breaking the bank? So here I am, writing for a fundraising site, wondering if its possible to put that second car seat in the minivan I bought in 2019. What if there is a way to make my family four? What if this doesn’t have to be the end of our journey?

I know this is might be a long shot. But my Nurse recommended looking at these sites and I suddenly found myself here. Sometimes, I think things happen for a reason.